Vote centers get big 'yes' vote

But legislature will have final say

Sep. 15, 2010

Lloyd Wells votes at the CFRC-Head Start vote center on Nov. 6, 2007, in Lafayette. County officials, currently working on the 2011 budget, are planning on the inclusion of vote centers, although they are set to expire at the end of this year. / File photo/Journal & Courier

Election Day voting centers will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the following locations:

St. Lawrence Catholic Church Social Hall, 1916 Meharry St.

Faith Community Center, 5526 Indiana 26 E.

Lafayette City Hall, 20 N. Sixth St.

Jenks Rest Senior Center, 1915 Scott St.

Lafayette Fire Station No. 5, 750 N. Creasy Lane

Lafayette Shrine Club, 3024 Indiana 25 N.

Tippecanoe County 4-H Fairgrounds, 1404 Teal Road

Brady Lane Church of Christ, 2701 Brady Lane

Evangelical Covenant Church, 3600 S. Ninth St.

The Outpost Catering, 2501 Old U.S. 231 S.

Purdue Memorial Union, 101 N. Grant St., West Lafayette

Morton Community Center, 222 N. Chauncey Ave., West Lafayette

Federated Church, 2400 Sycamore Lane, West Lafayette

Covenant Presbyterian Church, 211 Knox Drive, West Lafayette

Calvary Baptist Church, 310 Kalberer Road, West Lafayette

Tippecanoe County Public Library-Klondike Branch, 3062 Lindberg Road, West Lafayette

Battle Ground Fire Station, 112 North St., Battle Ground

Dayton United Methodist Church, 7201 Wesleyan Drive, Dayton

Clarks Hill Christian Church, 9510 Pearl St., Clarks Hill

More

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Lafayette-area lawmakers are planning a fight to ensure November's election is not the last using vote centers in Tippecanoe County.

Despite lobbying efforts into the final hours of the legislative session this past spring, lawmakers could not agree on language that would have extended the vote center program.

Vote centers, which are centralized polling places in place of traditional precinct-based polls, are currently used in Tippecanoe, Cass and Wayne counties as part of a pilot program. But that program is scheduled to expire this year.

State Rep. Randy Truitt, R-West Lafayette, and state Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, plan to introduce bills in the House and Senate, respectively, to continue the use of vote centers in the three counties.

The success of either bill would be welcome news to voters like Robert Freeman of West Lafayette, who said he prefers being able to vote where he chooses on Election Day.

"I like the system we have now," he said. "If we had to return to having to vote at a place nearby (where we live), and get there before it closes, people might miss out on voting."

While voters appreciate the convenience of multiple voting locations, local government officials in Tippecanoe County say vote centers also save money.

The main cost savings comes from having to staff fewer polling sites, County Clerk Linda Phillips said.

If the county has to return to the precinct system in 2011, Phillips said it will cost at least $50,000 extra to staff and equip as many as 91 precinct polling places. That's if there's a county school referendum in addition to the two municipal elections.

That's a big difference compared to this November's election, which will utilize 19 vote centers.

Tippecanoe County officials are in the process of planning the 2011 budget right now. They are being optimistic and planning for the use of vote centers, but if legislation isn't passed by the state, the county will have to find additional funding next year.

Truitt and Alting expressed confidence Wednesday that vote center legislation can be passed early in the next General Assembly session.

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The biggest challenge, Alting said, is to keep the streamlined bills they plan to introduce on the topic "clean" -- meaning they want to keep other, more controversial issues out of their legislation.

This past spring, a measure that would have extended vote centers stalled because of partisan fighting over language to expand absentee voting. Although the vote center systems are not universally popular with legislators across the state, Rep. Sheila Klinker said it's not a partisan fight to get the program extended.

Klinker, a Lafayette Democrat, said there are lawmakers in both parties who "don't think vote centers are the answer."

But she thinks there's a strong chance of getting a continuation of the system for the three counties already using them.

The language Truitt and Alting plan to use in their bills would extend the pilot program for two years.

Truitt said he'd like to see vote centers allowed indefinitely in Tippecanoe County, but both lawmakers expressed a "take-what-we-can-get" attitude.

Phillips said the county will need to know by March whether it needs to plan for precinct elections, which would require additional hiring and equipment.

The next legislative session will begin in early January and run through the end of April.